Haas to Honor Novartis CEO Joseph Jimenez, MBA 84, at Nov. 13 Gala

Joseph Jimenez, MBA 84, the CEO of Novartis AG who has positioned the company to anticipate future health care trends and to make momentous strides against various forms of cancer, will be honored as Business Leader of the Year at the 14th Annual Haas Gala on November 13.

The award recognizes members of the Berkeley-Haas community who have achieved prominence in their fields.

Since assuming the helm of Novartis in 2010, Jimenez, (pictured), whose expertise was previously in corporate marketing and consumer goods, has streamlined the largest company in Europe by market value to focus solely on pharmaceuticals, eye care, and generics. Last year, the Basel, Switzerland-based company saw net sales of $58 billion USD, and Jimenez has committed billions to research and development. Novartis currently has over 25,000 patients enrolled in 340 active global trials for promising cancer therapies.

Jimenez’s leadership and vision to solve one of the world’s most formidable challenges have earned him Berkeley-Haas’ highest honor. Previous recipients of the Business Leader of the Year Award include Janet Yellen, Haas professor emeritus and chair of the Federal Reserve, and Paul Otellini, MBA 74, the former CEO of Intel.

“Though not a scientist, Joe was an inspired choice to run a pharmaceutical giant,” says Rich Lyons, dean of Berkeley-Haas. “It’s his analytical skill at balancing short- and long-term goals, his quiet drive, and his outstanding ability to nurture the right talent that have allowed him to Question the Status Quo and re-envision the industry. He has the confidence and expertise to lead Novartis to deliver where society needs it most and is an example for us all of our Defining Principles.”

Three other alumni will also receive awards at the Gala. Danae Ringelmann and Eric Schell, MBA 08s, will receive the Leading Through Innovation Award. The duo propelled the crowdfunding movement when they launched Indiegogo, one of the first crowdfunding sites, with co-founder Slava Rubin in 2008. (Kickstarter, Indiegogo’s chief rival, launched a year later.)

Ringelmann and Schell (pictured), began working on Indiegogo while Berkeley-Haas students and used their Haas connections to develop the company. To date, Indiegogo has hosted over 300,000 campaigns in 224 countries and territories.

And the company’s growth has been exponential. Funds raised on the site in the past two years have increased 1,000 percent. Crowdfunding itself has disrupted the world of finance. Forbes reports that in 2010, global crowdfunding was an $880 million business. In 2014, that figure rose to $16 billion and is estimated to more than double this year to upwards of $34 billion.

Also at the Gala, the annual Raymond E. Miles Service Award will be presented to Lucky Sandhu, BS 96, MBA 15, the president and co-Founder of Reliance Financial. Sandhu has long been a committed volunteer for Berkeley-Haas, serving on the Berkeley-Haas East Bay Chapter Board of Directors since 2007. He led the chapter as co-president from 2009 to 2011, when it twice won the Chapter of the Year Award.

The event, to be held at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco, will kick off with a reception at 6:30 p.m., followed by dinner, an awards presentation, and a dessert reception.